| Abstract: |
I examine the incidence and determinants of the gender income gap in
Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine using recent
household data based on an identical survey instrument across countries. Four
main results are established, using a range of estimators, including OLS,
interval regression, and quantile regression: (1) the presence of a
substantively large gender income gap (favoring males) in all six countries;
(2) some evidence of a gender-related glass ceiling in some of these
countries; (3) some evidence that endowments diminish the income gaps, while
the returns to characteristics increase the gaps; and (4) while observed
individual characteristics explain part of the gaps, a substantial part of the
income gap is left unexplained. In sum, these results are consistent with the
presence of income discrimination towards females but at the same time also
point towards the importance of continued attention towards institutions and
economic policy for decreasing the gender income gap in these former formally
gender neutral economies — notably through attention towards the maternity and
paternity leave system, as well as public provision of child care. |